A Hundred Years Too Early
by Echoing Fantasy
Summary: AU. Namimori has quite a lot to say about the new teen father of six. Tsuna doesn't care what they say, so long as they don't try to stop him from raising the Arcobaleno properly. Parental!Tsuna drabbles.
1. Chapter 1

_A Hundred Years Too Early_

**One: **The Policeman and the Mafia Boss

**[Three months after the breaking of the curse]**

Tsuna would admit that his life was not easy. He would admit that before Reborn had come along, his life had pretty much been one big hellhole. And that on certain days, even with all the love his Family had to offer him, it could still be a hellhole. But Reborn had changed that; he'd made it easier to live his life, to spend his days laughing with his friends instead of worrying about what he was going to do with his life, or moping around waiting for his luck to change by itself.

And while Reborn had initially started out as nothing more than a nuisance, time and many misplaced adventures had gradually strengthened their relationship, until it was far closer to father and son than to tutor and student. Yes, Reborn still taught Tsuna, but there was more to it now. It wasn't just 'learn this or die'. It was more 'learn this, and figure out how to make your family stronger by using it'. Because of the man trapped in a child's body, Tsuna's resolve had tempered itself, his body had become honed, and his hands weathered by wars and fights that both were and were not his to settle.

Which was good, considering the next phase of his life demanded him putting all Reborn's lessons to use, without having Reborn around. At least not in the form he was used to.

In Namimori, teenage parents were something of a scandal, especially single or unmarried teenage parents. So it wasn't really a surprise that when Tsuna started walking around with the forms of six tiny babies strapped to his body, people started talking. The Seven Strongest – minus Yuni - had been reduced to their infant form with the breaking of the curse, their bodies returned to normal human forms. And while they still held all their memories, they couldn't make use of their abilities or even talk to Tsuna, because they were so young. They were literally defenseless, and Tsuna could name five people right off the top of his head who would love nothing more than to kill one or all of them.

And so Tsuna had grown up again, this time without Reborn. He had bought a house away from his old home, called in a few favors from the Ninth and got the house barricaded and heavily armed, and set to work on getting everything set up and baby-proofed. In the meantime, he also had to get a job (_no respectable mafia boss would ever take up work in a cake shop, _a voice that sounded suspiciously like Reborn's commented snidely) and make lists of everything he would need, both now and in the future. He had bought a futon for his own personal bed, and used the rest of the money for cribs, toys, and baby items for the former Arcobaleno.

Within two months he became the defender, parent and older brother of the former Arcobaleno, with knowledge of each individual baby's likes and dislikes. And now here he was, in the middle of Namimori's shopping center, trying to decide between skim or whole milk. Skull's stomach didn't react well to whole milk, and he usually didn't keep his breakfast down long if he had to drink or eat with it – which was usually quite a bit. At the same time, the others would get grumpy if they didn't get to drink whole milk – Reborn and Viper especially.

Tsuna might have been a devoted parent, but he was also only human. He couldn't afford both, not with everything else already in the basket, things he _needed. _With a soft sigh, he looked down at the baby strapped to his chest, who was staring at him expectantly. "I'm sorry, Reborn, but I really can't afford to let Skull go hungry."

Reborn was one of the more vocal children, always making little noises to either criticize or praise Tsuna. The teen knew that if Reborn could talk, he'd be saying a hundred different things about the way Tsuna was raising them, and most would probably end up being criticisms. Because of their past together, he was more in-tune with Reborn than some of the other children, which he could admit was a fault by itself. No parent should pay more attention to one child than the other. Fortunately, he was working on getting out of the habit.

Right now, Reborn made a low, flat noise, meaning he was _not _happy. Tsuna sighed again, and gently reached out to rub the baby's dark curls. "I know, I know, 'a mafia boss should always have enough money to keep his family out of trouble'. I'm only a kid in the eyes of many though, on top of being Dame-Tsuna. Prospective jobs aren't exactly lining up at my door."

Taking in the unimpressed stare the baby was giving him, he nodded along to the lecture he could practically hear. "I know, Reborn. I'm trying, really I am, but there's only so much I can do so fast."

The look softened a little, and a chubby hand reached out to smack Tsuna's chin. It was a reprimand, but also a sign that Reborn understood. Reborn might not have liked it, but it was the truth. Besides, Tsuna was doing a lot better than he _could _have been doing. He could have panicked and wailed and freaked out, but he hadn't. He'd accepted them with open arms, treated them kindly and respectfully, and never looked down on them despite their being children. He no longer asked their advice, but listened if they gave (or tried to) it anyway.

Tucking the skim milk in the basket, Tsuna quickly tallied everything up in his mind, looking over the prices he had written down in a little pocket notebook. It came out to around 2,610 yen, and he had 3,131 in his pocket. _Thank heavens for that. _He turned, preparing to head up to the register, when the baby strapped to his back – Fon – made an odd little chirp.

Tsuna didn't tense (that would give him away) but he snapped his fingers and stopped, turning back to the shelves as if to pretend he'd forgotten something. He used the farce to discreetly look around, and caught sight of the person, or rather people, who had triggered Fon's warning.

It was a group of middle-age women, clustered together at the end of the isle. They were talking behind their hands, but they were looking at him, and as Tsuna ran an eye over them he could see a variety of emotions. Amusement, shock, disgust, even anger. While it wasn't uncommon for people to talk about Tsuna behind his back, or even to his face, it _was _uncommon for the police to get involved. Which was exactly what seemed to be happening, because as one of the ladies moved back from whispering in another's ear, Tsuna caught sight of a man standing among them, clad in normal clothes but with a badge on his coat. He was watching Tsuna with a scrutinizing gaze, curious but also far too calm.

"Ah, looks like they don't carry it. Oh well," Tsuna mused out loud, shoulders slumping in pretend disappointment. He looked at his basket. Even if he _had _been looking for something, he probably wouldn't have gotten it. He was trying to save as much money as possible, to put towards a private, secure account in case of emergencies. Which, considering who he was raising, would be needed.

He walked towards the register, smiling at the young lady behind it as he slid his basket up and pulled the money out of his wallet. His Hyper Intuition sparked, telling him the policeman had followed him. Something in Tsuna's chest growled – while the Arcobaleno weren't _his _children, they were still children being raised and protected by Tsuna, and his Vongola blood was acting accordingly, making him almost feral with the need to keep strangers away from the children. The Arcobaleno hadn't seen him in that mode yet, thank god, but he knew it would be a shock to them when it came.

_Reborn will probably be indignant about it, and tell me off for 'being bold enough to think he's mine' or something like that. _"Thank you," he told the girl, picking up the basket again and taking it down to the end, where he started bagging everything up. The change was tucked back into his pocket, and once everything was bagged properly, he started out the doors for home. The entire time he walked his senses were on overdrive, and if anyone saw his eyes go from brown to gold they didn't confront him on it.

The cop tailed him all the way to his house, and stood just beyond the corner so he wouldn't be seen. Tsuna, close to the edge by this time set the groceries down on the curb and turned towards where the man was hiding. "Alright, come out. And don't even think about running off – I know you're there, and I know you've been tailing me since I left the store. What's your problem?"

At first, there was a slight pause, and Tsuna sensed the man's surprise. That gave way to grim amusement, and when he rounded the corner, he was clapping. "Bravo, young man, bravo. Rather sharp of you to notice me like that."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man. He was scruffy and rather monochrome, with thick muscle that made Tsuna think of his own father. His black hair was slicked back, and he had dark stubble along his chin. His eyes were dark grey, and narrowed, just like the brunette's. He wore dark clothing, with a tattered old grey coat over his shoulders to top off the look. "Who are you?" Tsuna demanded, "And what's your reason for following me?"

The man smirked. "Detective Grimm Badd. You're Sawada Tsunayoshi, commonly known as "Dame-Tsuna" around these parts, aren't you?"

Tsuna felt a fissure of fear well up inside of him before he hastily clamped down on it, sliding on his "boss mask" and situating himself to protect the babies if he needed to. "So what if I am? Is that something a stalker like you should be proud of, Mr. Detective?"

He had the pleasure of seeing Badd's face go slack for half a second before his jaw tightened. "You're awfully cocky, considering where you are."

Tsuna glanced over. "You mean in front of my _house, _in the housing district?"

"In Namimori, punk. That's _my _territory." He bared his teeth, obviously intent on threatening Tsuna. "You won't get away with your mafia business here."

Tsuna tacked on shock, remembering Reborn's lessons on timing facial expressions and how to properly lie. "_Mafia? _What are you smoking, you idiot? I'm not doing any mafia business." _And I seem to recall Namimori being **Hibari's **district. This guy must be new. Or stupid. Possibly both.  
_

Badd froze, his glare suddenly intensifying. "You little liar. You think people won't suspect you because you're a kid? I _know _all about you, Sawada! There's _nothing _you can hide from me! No matter where you run to, where you try to hide away at, I'll _always _find you!" By this time Badd's voice had gotten loud enough to attract some attention, and a few neighbors were opening their doors and peering out.

Recognizing a chance when he saw it, Tsuna slid his expression into one of pure terror and disgust and _screamed._ "Hiiiee! Pervert! Molester! Stalker! Someone, call the police! There's a man stalking me! Don't let him hurt the children!" And then, before Badd could come back around, he ran up the stairs and grabbed his food, shoving his way inside and bolting and locking the doors, to make it look real. He heard heavy footsteps, meaning Badd had pursued him, and hastily slid over to where he had an array of guns ready in case someone tried to come after the Arcobaleno.

Badd slammed his fist against the door. "YOU THINK ITS THAT EASY, SAWADA! I TOLD YOU, NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO, I'LL ALWAYS FIND YOU! YOU CAN'T HIDE IN THERE FOREVER! YOU HAVE TO COME OUT EVENTUALLY, AND WHEN YOU DO, I'LL GET YOU!"

Tsuna shivered as he listened. While he knew what Badd was referring to, it was all-too-easy to imagine the words just as Tsuna had pointed them out to be – stalkerish and perverted. Fortunately, he could hear sirens, which meant the police were on their way. _Sorry Mr. Detective, but if you think you're going to cuff me while I have children, you are out of your mind. _

Reborn bopped him on the chin, as close as a kick to the head as he could get, and Tsuna bowed his head. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I let the enemy get up on me, blah-blah-blah, I'll work on it, okay? I'm a single father, I'm not expecting anyone like him to come after me."

Reborn wacked him again for good measure, but grumbled and finally let up. Tsuna unstrapped them both and took them to their respective cribs in the other room, where the other babies were sound asleep. "I think this is enough excitement for one day, don't you? When you wake up, dinner will be done, and we can all have a nice easy meal. Sound good?"

A knock on the door told him the police had shown up, and Tsuna quickly turned from the babies to attend to them. Tacking on another mask of slight fear and hope, he opened the door.

* * *

Author's Notes

This is a set of drabbles inspired by the idea of the Arcobaleno turning back into babies upon the breaking of the curse. Tsuna gets custody for reasons that will later be explained, and has to deal with several factors in his new life that he's unprepared for. Grimm Badd is our first "villain", although I ask that you hold off judging him until we get to the drabble that explains _why _he's pursuing Tsuna and being a creeper.

The drabbles will probably stop at about ten or so, possibly shorter depending on inspiration.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two: **Late Night Walks

**[ Four months after the breaking of the curse ]**

Tsuna woke to soft crying. Ever since the Arcobaleno's arrival all those months ago, he'd been sleeping lighter than ever before, his senses constantly on alert for even the smallest noise that was out-of-place. So he was awake before the soft crying could evolve into full-fledged wails. On top of that, he had taken to mentally cataloging which noises belonged to which child, and so even before he was aware of it, he was stumbling across the room and reaching into Viper's crib, gently scooping the former Mist up and cradling her close.

Yes, _her. _It had been a shock to Tsuna to learn that Viper was a girl, one he had quickly gotten over. He remembered how fiercely she fought in the Ring Battles, and quickly resolved to treat her no different than the boys of the house, with the exception of a few instances when she was older. The scent of talcum powder assaulted him (she had been the last one he'd changed that night) as he lifted her up and gently rubbed circles over her back, cooing quietly to her. "It's okay, Viper, it's okay, I'm here. Bad dream?" She made no sound. "Hungry?" Still nothing. Considering he'd changed her a mere – he shot the glow-in-the-dark clock by his bedside a look – two hours ago, it was safe to bet she wasn't wet. Which left one thing. "Can't sleep?"

"Un." Tsuna wasn't sure if that constituted as a word, but he'd go with it anyway. The babies had slowly been making more noises lately, and he'd been paying attention to each one carefully. The last thing he needed was to be caught unawares because one of them was warning him and he didn't understand it.

"Alright then, let me grab my jacket and my slippers and we'll go for a walk, okay?" He was quick to do this, knowing how impatient she could be with things like this. Viper suffered from a very mild form of insomnia, and while most nights a nice back rub and her favorite toy could put her down, some nights she simply wouldn't be able to sleep. On nights like that, Tsuna took himself, Viper and his favorite gun down to the park and swung on the swings for a few hours, or just walked around until the rhythm of his body put her to sleep. Some nights not even that would do it, and Tsuna would be forced to bring out the big guns – he'd sing her to sleep.

Yes, it was a secret he'd kept to himself until their arrival. While by no means perfect, his range was quite large, and so long as he sang softly, most of the times his voice wouldn't break. Viper seemed to appreciate it more if he sang in Italian, so he had taken to learning Italian from Hayato on the weekdays and mastering a few songs to rely on when push came to shove.

Outside, the moon hung fat and round in the sky, and there was a biting chill to the air. Viper didn't even have time to complain about the cold before Tsuna had her pressed up against his chest, arms wrapped around her. She happily snuggled into the warmth, making a content noise once she was where she wanted to be. Tsuna yawned as he stepped beyond the borders of the house, the house locked up tight behind him.

He'd made sure to close the door and windows to his room as an added security measure – during the building of the home, Tsuna had asked for certain "tripwires" to be placed. In the event Tsuna was out and something happened, the whole house would go up in a matter of seconds, save for his room. So long as the window and door were both shut, the room would remain intact and the babies would stay safe. It was resistant to heat in case of a fire, bullet and bomb proof, and would withstand any natural disaster anyone tried to throw at it. The door was also locked from the inside, with a lock only Tsuna knew how to open.

_Trust the Vongola to protect their own in style, _Tsuna thought as he started walking towards the general direction of the park. He was keeping an eye out as he walked, both for Detective Badd (who had taken to stalking him whenever he seemed to go farther than his front door) and for anyone else that wanted to cause him harm. A couple of assassins had come for _Vongola Decimo _a couple weeks back, fortunately while Tsuna had been washing the dishes. He'd quickly dealt with them before they could even get a shot in, and then dumped their bodies in unmarked graves on the edge of town (with Kyouya's permission, of course) before returning home to feed the children.

All in all, a normal day in any Vongola household. It just went to show how insane Tsuna's life had become when he became used to random assassination attempts on his life and handled them calmly instead of panicking like a chicken that had lost its head. _Then again, its not like I can afford to panic anymore. I'm a 'teen father', after all. _

"Mu." Viper sudden made a sound, and Tsuna froze as every instinct he had been honing over the last four months started going off like crazy. It wasn't an assassin, thankfully, but that didn't make the person who stepped out of the shadows any better.

"Little late for a walk around town, isn't it Mister Sawada?"

Tsuna groaned. "Detective Badd, if you insist on following me, can't you do it during the daylight hours? When I'm not paranoid out of my mind and trying to get M back to sleep?" Around the detective, he'd gone about calling the babies by the first letters of their names, rather than their actual name. If he knew about Tsuna, chances were he'd know about the Seven Strongest. "And for your information, I have mild insomnia. Some nights I can't sleep, so I go to the park and swing for a bit. But then again, you already know that, don't you you creepy bastard?" He shot the man a glare.

Badd didn't appear the least bit sorry. "I'm making sure you aren't pulling a fast one over on me, brat."

Tsuna rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, you still think I'm a mafia boss of some sort. God, I need to hit whoever put that idea in your head." When Viper began making noises of discontent, he pulled his coat off and wrapped it around her, humming a song under his breath as he did so. He forgot about Badd in favor of making sure Viper didn't freeze to death, and remembered him only when he started walking again, and the heavy footsteps echoed his own.

"Why the park?" the detective suddenly asked.

"Why not?" Tsuna shot back. "It's quiet this time of night, no one's around, and the swings are soothing for someone like me. V likes them too."

"I thought you said her name was M?" Badd's voice was suspicious.

Tsuna winced, and covered his mistake. "Whoops, you're right. I must be really tired if I'm forgetting the names of my own kids." _I do **not **have the patience to play twenty questions tonight._

"Have to say, never took a young kid like you for a father." Badd leaned against the swing legs as Tsuna got up on one of them, pushing off and slowly rocking back and forth. "You're what, thirteen? And you're raising six kids by yourself."

"Yeah well, I'm not the type of person to push my responsibilities off on others," Tsuna murmured, ducking his head as his resolve made his eyes change to a burnished gold. "I was raised by a man who believed in doing things with your dying will, or not doing them at all. There's no in-between for me. And I'm fourteen, thank you very much."

Badd paused, evidently caught off guard by the words. When he spoke again, his voice was less demand and more curious. "What about the mother, or mothers though?"

"They don't have any." Tsuna left it at that. Let the detective think what he wanted; any digging would turn up empty, since not even Tsuna knew who the Arcobaleno's parents were, and they were probably long dead anyway. "It's just me and them."

"Seems lonely to me."

Tsuna shrugged. "It can be, at times. But I'm doing it to keep them safe from my less-than-stellar relatives."

"They'd hurt the kids?"

Tsuna snorted. "Hurt is putting it mildly, Detective. You're a smart man; you can read between the lines, can't you?"

Detective Badd narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. Viper squirmed in Tsuna's grip, making more noises, and Tsuna knew he'd have to break out the big guns tonight. "You don't mind, do you?"

"What?" Badd asked.

"If I sing. M sometimes won't go to sleep unless I sing, and tonight seems to be one of those nights." He smiled charmingly at the man. _If you say no, I'm going to blast you to kingdom come._

Badd snorted. "Do what you want. Just don't wake anyone else up with your screeching, kid."

The brunette shook his head at the scornful tone the male adopted, and without waiting, launched into one of the newer songs he'd learned. Viper must have been more exhausted than he'd thought, or maybe his chosen song was better than the others, because she fell asleep after only the first chorus. He trailed off at an appropriate point and slipped off the swing, tucking her up beneath his chin as he turned and headed for home. He ignored the fact that Detective Badd had not followed him, and had indeed frozen in something like shock at the start of the song and remained that way throughout it.

It was only as he was shutting the door to his house and locking it back up that he caught sight of the man running along the wall, trying to catch up to his missing prey. Snorting, Tsuna went and put Viper back to bed, yawning as he looked at the clock. It was nearly five in the morning, and he, while tired, wasn't in the mood to crawl back into bed just yet. _I guess I'm up for the day, then. I'd better take my shower now, before anyone else wakes up._

As with all the other showers before, it was quick and rather rough; Tsuna knew better than to take too long, in case one of the kids woke up hungry or messy. There was nothing worse than a cold breeze when you were still wet and trying to feed or change a baby. It tended to be very distracting. He toweled off quickly, blow-drying his hair to stop water from running down his neck, and put himself in semi-appropriate clothing. Sweatpants and a t-shirt were usually enough for his day, and the cake shop didn't care what he wore so long as it was decent and not just his boxers or something equally humiliating.

He started breakfast up after that, knowing before long that Verde would wake up, and that would wake Skull and Reborn up, who would then wake Fon and the others up. It was a chain reaction, one Tsuna had to look forward to every day. _They weren't joking when they told us in school being a parent was a full-time job. I barely have enough energy to do anything by the time I come home in the evenings! _He was beginning to understand why Iemitsu passed out as soon as he came home. Provided, _he _didn't act like a parent, but the mafia wasn't exactly light work.

Nearly an hour later the large breakfast was done, and a cry told him that Verde was up. _Six sharp, as always. At least he's making a routine out of it. _Dusting his hands off, he walked back up the stairs into his room and scooped Verde up. "Well good morning to you too, Verde. Are you hungry?"

"No."

Tsuna's eyes widened a bit. "Your first word. Impressive. Let's hope you'll be speaking full sentences before long. So you're not hungry. Do you need changing?"

"No." Verde was giving him that flat, distant stare which meant he was still partway asleep. "No."

"Ah, so you _do _need changing, but you won't admit it. I understand." This was something Verde did – if he repeated a word twice, it meant a 'yes' instead of a no, where he said the word only once. Tsuna suspected it had something to do with the whole 'two negatives make a positive' thing found in math. Scientists used math, right? Well, it was a bit of a stretch he would admit, but it was all he could think of when Verde did it.

The changing took less time than it took for Tsuna to finish his thoughts, and before he knew it he was scooping a sleepy-but-awake Reborn and Skull out of their cribs, laying them down side-by-side to change them. After that it was Fon and Colonnello's turn, and finally Viper, who decided to wake up again and make it quite apparent what mood she was in by shrieking her head off.

Wincing, he shushed her and cradled her close, rocking her as he gently picked the other babies up in the multi-carrier Giannini had invented for the house and took his charges down the stairs into the kitchen, where breakfast was waiting. As usual, Skull got his food picked up by Reborn and Colonnelo, who then smeared it on his face or flung it at each other, and as usual Tsuna had to scold them, clean up the mess and stop Skull from crying, not necessarily in that order either. By the time breakfast was over, he felt like he'd been fighting a mini-war, and hefted them all back upstairs for changing and to drop them off at daycare so he could go to work.

As much as he hated it, he couldn't completely shut himself off from the outside world, and he couldn't keep the babies indoors at all times. He had known how dangerous it would be to keep anyone else around while the Arcobaleno were with him, but even he had his limits. Some days Tsuna missed having his Guardians around, and wished he'd told himself that he _could _afford to have one or two help him out, but he knew as certain as the sun rose in the east and set in the west if he'd only picked one or two the others would just start dropping by, and that would attract everyone's attention. He didn't need that, so no Guardians.

It had been the same with his mother. It had been so tempting to agree to stay there and let her help out with the babies, but he remembered how the Vendice had attacked the house, and the fear of having his mother in that kind of situation again, except this time not escaping so fortunately, made him regret it. He wouldn't do that to her – and so he'd bought a house away from home, and was raising the babies by himself until they were old enough to start training. Maybe when that day came, he could move back home and call his Guardians back to his side.

For now however, his days consisted of food fights, early morning wake-up calls, stalkers ("Good morning, Detective,") and daycare. Glory to the Vongola indeed.

* * *

Author's Notes

So those of you who wanted to know where everyone was, here's your answer. To protect the Arcobaleno as well as his friends and family, Tsuna has basically built himself a base of operations that is heavily protected, and acts as his guardian in place of, well his Guardians. It's quiet, it doesn't argue with itself, and it can blow itself up while leaving the babies safe. Eventually the others will make their appearance (the Arcobaleno will age with the drabbles), but for now its just him.

These drabbles will update whenever I have the right inspiration for them, so hopefully I can get them done soon. Glad to hear everyone's enjoying them so far; leave your thoughts behind and I'll get to them as soon as I wake back up (sadly my sleeping schedule isn't much better than Viper's due to nightmares).


	3. Chapter 3

**Three: **Learning Arrangements

**[ Eight months after the breaking of the curse ]**

The pitter-patter of little feet across the hard tile floor told Tsuna he wasn't alone in the kitchen. When hands grabbed at his pants, Tsuna smiled and finished dicing the apple he was giving the kids for snacks before wiping his hands and looking down. Blond hair and blue eyes greeted him. "Kowa!" the boy chirped.

"Kora, Colonnello. Feeling better?" Kneeling, Tsuna pushed the boy's bangs back (he'd need to give him a haircut soon) and felt his face for any signs of lingering warmth. There had been a nasty flu bug going around, and while most of the kids had managed to avoid it (although they certainly hadn't avoided the chicken pox that came on the heels of that), Colonnello hadn't been quite so lucky. Tsuna was taking time off of work to let him get better, something that he normally wouldn't have done except the new manager of the cake store he worked at, Mizuki, had all but shoved him out the front door when she learned his boy was sick and there was no one else he could rely on to take care of him.

"_Idiot! Go home to your son; he needs you more than I do. Don't worry, you aren't fired and I'll still pay you. Come back when everything's stable again and I'll let you in."_

She was a good woman, Tsuna thought as he handed one of the apple slices to Colonnello, watching his eyes brighten with happiness. She understood what it was like to be a single mother though, so maybe that was why. "Well, looks like your fever broke, so at least there's that. Are you hungry?"

"Ah!" The boy grabbed the apple and ran out of the room, Tsuna quietly snickering behind his hand as he did. Sometimes he forgot that they weren't the Arcobaleno anymore – they were just kids. Picking up the plate, he walked into the other room, where all of them were gathered in a semi-circle, playing together (or rather, playing tug-of-war over something like Fon and Viper, who apparently had a disagreement over who got the last building block to finish their castle) and put the plate of apple slices down.

"If you guys are hungry, here are some snacks. Hopefully none of you are allergic to apples." He pulled away as the plate was suddenly bombarded, shrieks and cries ringing out as the stronger babies surged to the front and started trying to eat everything in sight. A few months ago Tsuna might have allowed this, thinking it normal behavior, but he wouldn't now. **"Stop,**" he ordered in his 'boss' voice, watching with satisfaction as all attention immediately went to him. "Everyone gets two slices. No more, no less. Reborn, Colonnello, stop stepping on Skull. Just because you did it when you were adults doesn't mean you get to do it now. Especially not in _my _household."

The duo sulked mightily, but Tsuna didn't relent. He stared them down and eventually they gave up and let Skull back up again, each passing him a slice of the three apples they'd snatched. Likewise when his gaze moved to Fon and Viper (another troublesome duo, he'd come to learn) they quickly settled whatever spat they'd been having and each went their separate ways. Once everyone had two slices, he picked the plate back up and sighed. "I swear, you six are going to be the death of me."

"No."

"Un."

"Mu."

"Kowa!"

"Bah!"

"Dame."

Tsuna rolled his eyes at the last shot taken by Reborn. "Yes, yes, I know, I'm still Dame Tsuna to you, Reborn. I doubt that's ever going to change." He moved to head back into the kitchen when a knock on the door sounded, and he stopped, frowning.

"Wonder who that could be." Taking one of the CZ75's he'd bought himself, he stuck it in the back of his jeans and pulled his shirt over it, keeping one hand behind him as he cautiously opened the door. On the other side stood a strictly-dressed woman and man, both who looked surprised when Tsuna answered the door. "Can I help you?"

"Are you Sawada Tsunayoshi?" The woman asked. Tsuna immediately locked onto her, letting a little of his protective _touch-my-babies-and-DIE _aura out.

"Who wants to know?"

"Kurosaki Ren from Namimori Middle." She opened her wallet and showed him her ID. It wasn't a fake, and she quickly nudged her wary-looking partner, who did the same. "This is Tokagawa Mizuru, he's also from the school. We're here because of your lack of presence on our grounds lately, and we were wondering when to expect you back."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow. It was elegantly worded, but a demand was still a demand. He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms. "Hasn't anyone told you? I'm a single father of six now. I have a job; I can't afford to come to school anymore."

"But its mandatory!" The man – Mizuru – cut in impatiently. He pushed his glasses up and looked at Tsuna as if he wasn't expecting anything important. It was the same look Tsuna's teachers had once given "Dame-Tsuna" - a look that would get those same teachers killed now if they tried it on him. He flashed a sharp smile in warning, and watched in satisfaction as the man flinched. "Y-you have to come back. You've already missed-"

"Eight months. I'm aware. But unless you're willing to allow my children to come with me during my lessons, and make special exceptions so that I can regularly duck in and out to feed, change and play with them, there's nothing I can do." He turned his gaze back to the woman, who he could see was much more lenient on the subject. "I'm sorry if I'm breaking the law. But I have a responsibility to them before any responsibility to myself. Besides, the teachers won't teach 'Dame-Tsuna', and all I would do is get harassed. There's no point in going back to that kind of environment."

"What if we assigned someone to keep that from happening?" Ren asked, clearly willing to negotiate. Tsuna liked her – it was clear she was only trying to do her job, not make his life harder. "And we can do something about any needs the babies might have – set aside a small separate room so you can feed them and what not."

"Kurosaki-san, that's favoritism!" Mizuru hissed at her. Ren ignored her colleague and continued to look at Tsuna.

"There's still the matter of my job. I can't just quit – its the only money I have coming into the house." Tsuna told her.

She nodded. "Understood. What time does your work usually go from?"

"It starts at seven and ends at three." School ran a bit later, but started at around the same time.

She pulled out a notebook and jotted the numbers down, still ignoring Mizuru, who seemed to be in the throes of a self-induced seizure. "Where do you work at?"

"The cake bakery just down the way."

"The popular one?"

"Yes."

She nodded and wrote that down as well. "I would like to speak to your boss with you there, and see if maybe we can't get this sorted out. Thank you for listening to our concerns, and for giving us a chance to talk, Sawada-san."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at this, noting the way the male beside her stiffened in shock, mouthing the word _'san' _over like it was poison. "It was nothing. Thank you for listening to me, and being so lenient. I know you're only doing your job, but I prefer to keep situations like this from getting out of hand."

She smiled in understanding, and then abruptly looked down at Tsuna's knee. Tsuna did too, and smiled as he realized the kids were crowding behind his legs, looking out at the two strangers at his door. Reborn looked suspicious, as did Colonnello. The duo had become strangely protective of Tsuna since their seven-month mark, and they were quick to rally to his side if they thought he couldn't handle something (which was almost all the time). Tsuna was quick to reach down and run a hand through their hair in reassurance, giving them subtle nods when they looked up at him. They relaxed, though only slightly.

"This is your brood, I take it?" Ren asked, a smile on her face. Tsuna couldn't help but puff himself up a little bit in pride.

"Ah. They're troublemakers, but they're mine." Understatement of the century right there.

She knelt, looking at them straight on and speaking clearly, as if she knew they would understand. "Hello there. I'm sorry to disrupt you, but I've been talking about your otou-san coming back to school. We feel it would be the best thing, since he still is a middle school student and by law he has to come back. Depending on how these next few days go, you might be coming with him."

Reborn looked up at Tsuna with something close to a scowl. Tsuna just sighed and watched as he walked back to the blocks, kicking over both Fon and Viper's towers before plopping himself in Colonnello's seat and ignoring everyone else. Colonnello was quick to scuttle over and try to get him out of the seat, and even quicker to be pushed away. Fon and Viper went over to redo their towers, making noises that suspiciously sounded like they were scolding the former Sun. Tsuna shook his head as he watched it unfold, knowing he'd have to explain to Reborn why he hadn't gone back to school yet.

"So energetic," Mizuri muttered, wiping his face with a handkerchief. "If they actually get inside the school, they'll be nothing but trouble."

Tsuna glared at him. "They can contain themselves when they want to. The problem isn't them, its me. Reborn gets grouchy when I do things like this."

Ren frowed. "Things like this?"

"Not going to school." He waved a hand. "Taking up a job at a bakery instead of someplace dignified. He'll sulk, possibly throw a fit when I try to talk to him. He'll calm down eventually, but for right now its like this."

Ren hid a grin behind her hand at the note of exasperated fondness in his voice. "You really do love them, don't you?"

"Of course I do. They're my world now." Tsuna wasn't ashamed to admit that he'd come to rely on the little terrors to get going every day. They were helping him get out in the world, push and strive towards goals he had never once considered before they came along. True he was still a mafia boss, but that was on hold until this was over, or at least until Reborn was old enough to start waving a gun around without looking like some delinquent kid.

_Puberty is going to be hell. _"Anyway, thank you for taking the time to come out here and talk to me. If you want, we can meet up at my boss' place tomorrow, since Colonnello's fever is finally down."

"Is eight acceptable?" Ren asked. "I'll call beforehand to let you know I'm coming."

"That's fine. I should be at the shop by then, and I'll talk to my manager before you show up to warn her." He waved them off as they left, the man shooting dirty looks back at him and Tsuna making sure to _smile _to let him know just how happy he was with the visit. Once they were gone, he sighed again (he was doing a lot of that lately) and turned back indoors, knowing he and Reborn needed to talk things out. Neither of them was the type to let things simmer between them, no matter what emotion it was.

Scooping the boy up, he looked over at the others. "Don't get into any fights while I'm gone, okay? I'm just poking my head out for a bit. I'll be right back." He walked back up into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him and sitting on the bed, Reborn in his lap. "Reborn, c'mon, talk to me."

Reborn ignored him. Tsuna's shoulders slumped a bit, but he forcibly turned the boy around, ignoring it when the raven flailed and tried to bite him. "None of that now; c'mon Reborn, we can't let this lay. If you were older, you'd know that." Putting a hand beneath his chin, Tsuna raised his face up so they were looking at one another. "You knew when I agreed to take care of you that this wasn't going to be a cakewalk. I've learned a lot, but I'm still only human. I can't be everywhere at once – some things needed to be sacrificed so I could raise you properly."

Reborn made a disagreeing sound, but Tsuna shook his head. "No, I did. And until you're old enough to look after yourselves, I'm going to continue to sacrifice bits of myself so you can continue to live. I'm sorry I haven't been going to school, but I can't afford to leave you alone any longer than I absolutely have to. We haven't had any assassins in a while, but I'm not going to risk letting you stay by yourselves an extra hour or two and take the chance." He let the hand drop, knowing Reborn would keep looking at him without it. "If I do this, I need you to keep the others in line. I know you guys didn't always get along, but I can't do this by myself. I'm only one person."

"Dame," Reborn muttered. Tsuna smiled fondly.

"Yes, I'm Dame-Tsuna. But I'm also the same person who's been cleaning and feeding you and making sure you haven't died. I could have left you with someone else, and you would have been dead in a week. You have to admit, I'm doing better."

There was no reply to that, but Tsuna didn't expect there to be. Reborn was still Reborn, even locked away in another tiny body like he was. "Tomorrow I'll take you guys with me, and if everything goes according to plan, we'll go to school. I'm probably going to have to put up with a lot of crap from teachers and students, so I need you guys to really work with me. Got it?"

A small hand patted his face in answer. "Dame."

Tsuna just sighed in exhaustion and hefted the boy back up, walking to the door. "Okay then. Let's go talk to your siblings and see if we can't get them to agree too."

* * *

Author's Notes

For those of you wondering about Tsuna's schooling, here it is. Hopefully everything makes sense.

On the matter of Kurosaki's address to Tsuna – she calls him Sawada-san. The reason I did this (and please note that I don't speak Japanese, so I'm note sure if the situation would be correct or not) is because it mentions that "san" is used to address "two equals no matter the age". I figured that Kurosaki would see Tsuna not as a fourteen-year-old boy, but as a _father _first and foremost, and so she would address him as "san" instead of "kun" which would be his normal form of address.

Again, I don't know if this is correct, so please tell me otherwise if I'm wrong.

I was tempted to put in Tsuna's first day back, but these are only meant to be drabbles, and its getting close to 3k words. So I'll probably post that as a separate entity, since it does contain the Guardians reintroduction (Hayato and Takeshi, as well as the girls). Not sure what it will be called, but I'll post it when its done.

And to answer questions left behind!

**Guest – **Tsuna is indeed fourteen, getting close to his fifteen year now. The story starts right as the manga ends, except instead of Tsuna and Reborn talking and Reborn leaving for Italy, this happens. So there's no Vongola Neo Primo or anything like that yet.

**Nuriko Kurosaki – **They're all ten months right now – the two years they were became two months when they reverted to baby form, and Tsuna's had them for eight months now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Four: **Exercise Routines

**[ Eleven months after the breaking of the curse ]**

Tsuna sighed heavily and laid down the pen he had picked up nearly four hours ago, laying it next to his final, completed worksheet. With this, he was all caught up on the school work he'd missed, and no longer had to bring home giant packets of work to do and turn in. Getting up, he stretched, groaning and things popped and snapped in places that probably weren't very healthy. But then again, sitting down in one spot for four hours would do that to a person.

A gentle tug on his pants told him he wasn't alone in the big, dark living room. He looked down, and blinked in surprise when he saw who was standing there. "Fon? What are you doing up so early?"

Since Tsuna's return to school, the kids had slowly been showing more of their personality. It wasn't uncommon for Tsuna to wake up and find one or more of the children already up and talking to one another over the bars of their cribs. Reborn and Verde both kept odd hours, and Viper was beginning to fall asleep whenever she wanted. Tsuna tried to keep them all on the same track, but it was hard, even with all the help provided by his Guardians, who insisted that eight months in solitary mother-mode was enough for even the hardiest boss, and he needed to come back home.

Tsuna had shocked himself as well as his Guardians when, instead of insisting otherwise, he had merely told them, _"Most bosses aren't Vongola." _Clearly Reborn had rubbed off on him, and Tsuna had been unable to get away from the happy black beetle eyes that followed him over the course of the day, much to his eternal horror. The only good thing that came out of it was that Reborn couldn't talk yet, so he couldn't rub it in his student's face.

Fon raised a book up over his head, and Tsuna frowned, plopping back down to better see it. "You want me to read to you?" Fon shook his head.

"Bah." He patted the book, and then Tsuna's arm. "Bah-bah, bah!"

Now Tsuna was _really _confused. Fon wanted him to do something with it, but what? He opened the book up and started when he realized what it was. "An exercise book for martial artists?"

"Bah!"

Flipping through the pages, he realized most of them consisted of beginner's stretches, katas and such. They were all low-level and easy to perform and go through. There were step-by-step forms and pictures to go with the words. Tsuna tapped the book. "Did you use this?"

Fon nodded. _Well that explained where he got it from. _"And you want me to use it now?" Another nod. He flipped back through the book, and winced as he started looking at the poses closer. A couple of these looked very... bendy. "I'm not quite sure this is a good idea, Fon. I know I've been in a lot of battles and been trained by that Spartan baby upstairs, but that won't be enough to stop me from turning myself into a pretzel if I decide to do one of these."

The child giggled, patting Tsuna's knee. Tsuna could practically hear his words, _"You'll be fine, Tsunayoshi. I have faith in your abilities."_

"That's what I'm afraid of," he muttered. Sighing through his nose, he looked the list of materials found in the front of the book over. "Old, easy to move in clothes, a mat, a wide area around you, body length in all directions..." he glanced to his sides. "Er, I don't think I have quite enough room for this."

"Bah!" Again, Fon solved the problem. He put both hands on the small table in the room and mimed pushing it against the wall.

"Okay, but what about the mat?"

Fon cocked his head. "Bah?"

Tsuna closed his eyes. "Right, right, you've been doing this for years. _You _never needed a mat." Taking a deep breath, he flipped to the first page and set the book down next to him, quietly pushing the table into a corner of the room. He cleared away anything in the immediate area, and once that was done, crouched in front of the book, looking over the first line of poses critically. There were a couple that didn't look so terrible. Maybe he could try them.

He glanced over at where the little raven-haired boy saw, almost anxious. "If I fall over, there will be no giggling."

He got a nod from that, so he straightened and started to go through the motions. At first it was simple, his training from Reborn providing him the base he needed to get a feel for the motions. Then it started to gradually evolve, and Tsuna somehow found himself standing on one of his hands, a leg in the air while his other arm rose up to clutch his leg and hold it pinned against his back. Fon cheered quietly when he got there, and Tsuna couldn't help the small burst of pride he felt.

Unfortunately, that pride was short lived as he felt himself tilt, and in his haste to correct it, leaned too far back. Instead of falling forward, he was now falling back. He had just enough time to utter a tiny squeak of terror before his back slammed into the ground, knocking the wind out of him and causing both his leg and arm to emit an intense flare of pain. He wheezed, wincing when his attempts to pull his leg and arm out from underneath his body resulted in another flare up. Small hands patting his face made him look up; he found Fon hovering by his side, making little distressed noises. It was clear he hadn't expected such a fall.

Giggles echoed around him, and Tsuna looked up to find the rest of the infants at the top of the stairs, watching him with smiles on their faces. He huffed, cheeks flaring red. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up. Just remember, if I'm down nobody's gonna cook you breakfast." He watched in vindictive pleasure as a couple of little jaws dropped, and Reborn actually looked about ready to commit mutiny.

He snickered, and shifted up onto his elbows, reaching out to run gentle fingers through Fon's hair when the boy pressed close, making little whimpering noises. "Hey, I'm okay. It just startled me is all. I don't have your expertise with my body, so I have to start smaller. It's not your fault, its mine for not being smarter than the book." He smiled when Fon looked at him in disbelief. "It hurts me to see you worry, so please don't worry, okay? Lichi would be upset if he saw you like this, and he's already mad at me for refusing to let him near you until you're older."

Taking the animals away had been a precaution Tsuna had taken when the kids had come with him. A few of the larger pets didn't know Tsuna, and had become fiercely protective over the little bundles when Tsuna had tried to take them off. Only Leon and Falco hadn't put up that much of a fight, if only because they had been around Tsuna enough times to know he wouldn't put their partners in harm's way. They had willingly gone with the other Guardians, while ones like Oodako and Keimen had put up much more of a fight.

Tsuna knew the animals were smart and could understand their partners, but he wasn't sure if they would understand him like the Arcobaleno did, or if they would even tolerate his presence. They might become territorial, and he didn't need that. He needed peace and quiet so he could sort through the trials Life handed him, and get a grip on his powers and abilities. Fortunately, with the children nearing the one-year mark in their new life, it meant the chance for a reunion with the partners. Tsuna himself planned to go back home for the day and spend it with his mother, as well as with his family. Doubtlessly everyone would be wondering how he was faring, despite the fact that almost all his Guardians saw him at school.

"_Why don't you come home with us, Jyuudaime?" Gokudera's voice was beseeching, "We can help you take care of Reborn-san and the others, and then you won't have to be alone all the time!"_

"_Yeah, we could take some of the work off your hands, Tsuna! I know we can't be there all the time, but even a little help has to be better than none, right? Maybe we could even get Onii-san in on it, and the girls would love to see you again." He might have been smiling, but Yamamoto's eyes projected the same worry Gokudera's voice held. _

_Tsuna shook his head. He'd known from the very beginning how this was going to go – how this **needed **to go. He might not have been able to see the future like Yuni could, but his Vongola blood was strong in its own right. And it was telling him he needed to stay secluded, just him and the babies. "No. I won't let you become targets for the Arcobaleno. The same with Mama. And I won't let anyone else do my job for me. I know it won't be easy – I'll probably end up breaking down quite a few times, but I **need **to do this." _

_His eyes glowed bright with his determination – with his Dying Will. "Please. Although its going against everything you've done so far, I'm asking you, no, **begging **you," And here he got down on his knees before them, bowing deep, "Please, for my sake as well as theirs, do not attempt to interfere."_

"_Jyuudaime!"_

"_Tsuna..."_

And so that had been that. And he'd made the same request to both the Ninth and his father, who had been more than ready to help him out anyway they could. The Ninth, back when he'd bought the house for Tsuna, had called him and asked him if he needed anything else.

"_Are you certain, Tsunayoshi?"_

"_I am." Tsuna closed his eyes, gently rocking baby Skull to sleep as he talked over the phone. "I know its unorthodox, and I know you don't like this, but it needs to happen like this."_

_A sigh. "You know, some days I really hate our bloodline."_

_Tsuna chuckled. "I understand your feelings, Grandfather. Hopefully this year will fly by, and we can go back to the way things were before."_

"_You mean with Reborn beating on you every other day?"_

_The brunette winced. "Well, hopefully by the time he's old enough to start training me again, he'll have grown out of that particular urge."_

"_Tsunayoshi, Reborn was born with that urge and will die with that urge."_

"_I know, but I can dream."_

The adults had been confused, but they had accepted that in the end Tsuna wouldn't budge on his decision, no matter what. He had given them a more complete reason than just his Intution's speaking however, because they deserved that. What it came down to in the end was protection. Nobody would bat an eye at one normal kid taking care of his six children. They _would _however bat an eye at several gun, grenade, tonfa, sword and trident-bearing children caring for six children. As much as Tsuna loved his Guardians, they were too noisy, and attracted attention like nobody's business. Tsuna didn't need attention – he needed subtlety.

Besides, if they were around, they would have already thrown a fit over the cop and gotten him arrested without a doubt. Yamamoto didn't know how to censor himself, nor did Ryohei, for all his attempts. In the future they would probably learn that, but for now they didn't. It was also for this reason that he hadn't gone home, and had instead distanced himself from his mother. He was already having a hard enough time being attacked for being "Vongola Decimo" - he didn't need his mother being held captive in exchange for the Arcobaleno.

And knowing his mother (bless her), she'd go along with it, thinking it was a play or a joke. The very thought made the hairs on the back of Tsuna's neck stand up, and stress press down on him. No, he certainly didn't need that. So a year of solitude it was, with the exception of Detective Badd and a few people at the grocery store.

Fon patted his face, and Tsuna realized he'd been spacing out. "Sorry, sorry. I assume everyone wants breakfast?" That got him a bunch of happy cheers, and he reached for the apron he wore when cooking. "Alright, give me ten minutes guys."

Breakfast was soon sitting on the table, and Tsuna was herding the last of the kids into their chairs, watching the usual morning routine unfolding. While they were distracted with food, he went back into the living room and picked up the book Fon had given him, taking it upstairs into his room. He'd read more into it later on, once the kids were asleep. And then he'd start looking for small ways to get into this kind of training.

After all, just because Reborn was out of the picture didn't mean he necessarily had to stop learning new things.

* * *

Author's Notes

And here we at last have the answer to the question many of you are asking – Why aren't Tsuna's Guardians attempting to help? What about the Ninth or the CEDEF? Well, Tsuna doesn't want their help, and can in fact be quite scary when he puts his foot down. Fortunately nobody has to see that side of him, because he's so sweet and persuasive.

In answer to the other question being asked, "Where are Lal Mirch and Yuni" - the reason neither of them are with the rest of the Arcobaleno is because Lal Mirch was a corrupt pacifier carrier. She was slated to be the original carrier of the Rain, but Colonnello took her spot. She became half-cursed, and in the manga this results in her turning into an adult while the others are still babies. In this rendition, she's not a baby, but she's not an adult either – she's a teenager. You'll see her later.

Yuni, on the other hand, doesn't carry the traditional Arcobaleno curse. Instead she keeps her size but has a short life. So instead of being turned into a baby, she regained the years of life she had lost as a result of the Pacifier.

Any other questions, comments, concerns, leave them here and I'll get to them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Five: **Surprise!

**[ One year after the breaking of the curse ]**

Reborn would never admit it out loud, but his Dame student had grown up into a fine young man who was learning to handle stress with poise, elegance and charm. The drop back to infant-hood had been a horrible twist to what was promising to be a very good life, even if Checkerface had been _kind _enough to leave their memories of the battle and the people behind it intact.

Of course, while none of them had expected to have to be babies for a few more years, nobody had expected Dame-Tsuna to take up the job of protecting and sheltering them, either. Not even Fon, who was usually painfully optimistic about these things, could understand where he was coming from.

"_I don't understand why he's refusing to let his Guardians help him," Fon mused from his crib. It was bedtime, and most of the others were sound asleep, put down by Tsuna's gentle hands and delicious food. "He's strong, but strength will not save him if the numbers are too great."_

_Reborn had yawned, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "He's a Dame. Give him a few days to figure out his mistake, and mark my words, the house will be noisy before long."_

Except that it hadn't. Instead, Dame-Tsuna had become an expert at reading them, at understanding them. He didn't look down on them or try to act like they were just babies, but rather people that needed a little help to get through the day. He talked to them, asking if they felt bad or sick, and if they did he nursed them back to health. If they got bored and wanted to play, Tsuna played with them. And if one of them needed changing in the middle of the night (oh, the shame that diapers presented) he would get up, no questions asked and no anger to be found, and change them.

It was amazing to watch, and even though Reborn was right up next to the boy most of the time, it still seemed like he was missing so much. Like how Tsuna had gone from falling on his back trying to imitate a pose out of a book to actually imitating the pose itself and meditating in his spare time. Or how he had asked Talbot for books on Flame training techniques and practiced them when he could.

The fact that he was taking incentives to learn by himself brought a burst of pride to Reborn's body, and he found himself wishing he could talk so he could ask Tsuna how he was doing, or even just tease the boy about his "failures". Little things that they had done before, that had always inspired Tsuna to push himself further. But although they had all been pushing themselves in their new bodies, there was still only so much they could do. Words continued to elude them, even though their minds knew what they wanted to say. It was a different kind of entrapment, one that left them all frustrated.

Reborn heard the door open, and rolled over onto his back, the others also shifting themselves as the overhead light was turned on to its lowest setting (adjustable lights was one of those smart things Tsuna had invested in) and Tsuna came into their field of vision, smiling understandingly in the face of their grumpiness.

"Good morning everyone. Sorry to wake you up so early, but today's going to be pretty busy, and I need to get you ready. So please cooperate with me today?" He reached down, wrapping protective arms around Viper and Fon first, taking them to the table to get changed. Reborn pulled himself to his feet, using the bars of his crib to steady himself as he watched.

There were clothes beside the baby supplies today, which was odd because normally Tsuna let them have a bit of time to wake up after the changing before putting them into any clothes. It also gave them a bit of time to talk among themselves while Tsuna went down and made breakfast. Tsuna couldn't understand them, but apparently they could understand one another – it made speaking all the more frustrating, since they knew the barrier separating them from Tsuna was so terribly thin.

"I know you guys don't like formal outfits, but its for a good cause today. Besides, I talked to Haru the other day, and she came up with an idea. This is the beta test for the clothes, so if you like them let me know and I'll tell Haru to make you more, okay?" He smiled down at the duo on the table – once again Reborn was proud to see that he was giving them choices for everything.

"_Hmph, so long as you're the one paying."_

"_Very well, Tsunayoshi. I will tell you my opinion when you need it."_

Reborn laughed. _"Becoming his adviser, Fon?"_

The other turned his head to look at Reborn. _"Hardly. I'm just trying to be helpful."_

"_And I'm sure he appreciates it."_

"_Will you two knock it off?" _Viper growled._ "You might think this is __**fun, **__but I don't. Sawada, I don't know what you were thinking. These clothes are itchy and uncomfortable – take them off at once!"_

Tsuna winced, clearly understanding Viper's little fuss for what it was. "Ah, so you don't like them? Okay then, I'll switch back to normal for you." And he pulled a pair of the exact same clothes from the cupboard, carefully undressed Viper and put her in the second set. "There! Better?"

"_Much. If this... Haru of yours comes around, tell her to take her torture devices back! I want no part in them."_

"Okay, I'll put these down here so I'll know to give them back to her."

"_Good."_

Reborn shook his head. _Anyone else would think that he can hear us, the way he talks._

After Fon and Viper were done and scuttling off downstairs, Colonnello and Verde came next. And much like the duo before had been, the two were split about the new clothes. Colonnello liked them, Verde didn't. Once again, Tsuna redressed one of the Arcobaleno, putting the new clothes down next to Viper's. Finally it was Skull and Reborn's turn. Skull whined about the itchiness of the clothing and was quickly redressed, while Reborn took a little more time to pass judgment.

The fabric was soft, like felt, but it was also firm, like denim. Reborn could see where the complaint at itchiness might come in, but he didn't feel that way. If anything, he liked it. When Tsuna reached for him with a question in his eyes, Reborn shook his head. Both were lifted off the table and put down. Skull was quick to follow the others, while Reborn waited for Tsuna before following. Today was special for some reason, and he felt like he should know what it was, but he couldn't remember.

Breakfast was an unusually short and quiet affair, nobody wanting to ruin their clothes. Even Colonnello and Reborn behaved, neither throwing food at Skull or attempting to take his. Once everyone was done eating the oddly lacking meal, they were rounded up and herded out the door. Outside it was still fairly early, the sky a mixture of pale blue and pinks with spots of clouds along the horizon. There was a chill in the air that had everyone huddling around Tsuna as he walked, since the teenager emitted a natural, constant heat.

"_Is it supposed to be this cold this early on?" _Fon asked as they walked. _"I thought winter had come and gone already."_

"_It is, but Namimori usually keeps a chill in the early morning and late evenings for about three weeks after before warming up," _Reborn replied, glancing around. He wasn't sure where Tsuna was leading them so early, but he didn't recognize any of the buildings as ones they usually went past – Tsuna must be using a different route.

"_Argh, just where is this brat leading us? It's so early, its stupid!" _Skull groaned, stomping a tiny foot in a fit of anger. He was crying out in the next minute as he tripped – only to be caught by large hands.

"Hey now, be careful. I know its cold out, but please don't start doing whatever you want. Today's special, and I'd like for you all to stay in a good mood, if possible." Gently setting Skull back on his feet, Tsuna looked them over with a small smile. "So please, work with me."

"_Hmph. He's awfully cocky today, isn't he?" _Viper muttered, sounding more and more bitter. _"Just what's so special that he's demanding we be cheerful?"_

"_Not cheerful Viper, merely in an amiable mood," _Fon corrected, ignoring the snarl of _I heard what he said! _

"_You two knock it off!" _Colonnello snapped, finally growing tired of the bickering. _"The kid's not asking for much – and considering how much he's slaved off his feet day and night to make us happy, we owe him a lot. So clam the bitching and get moving! We'll know where we are soon enough." _And he marched off, reaching up to curl his tiny hand around three of Tsuna's fingers. Tsuna looked down, and Reborn caught one of those soft, thankful smiles that made them all feel like they were on top of the world.

"_He's right you know," _he told the others. _"Tsuna isn't the type to lead us around in darkness. And if he does, its not to harm. So cool your tempers already. It won't kill you to wait for a surprise instead of just having it right away." _Turning he caught up to the duo, moving to Tsuna's other side and raising his arm up, grabbing Tsuna's thumb with his entire hand, pressing their palms together. Like this, he could keep track of his former student's mental state – the beating of his heart was practically tell-tale to Reborn at this point.

Tsuna looked down at him, giving him the same look he'd given Colonnello. "Thank you, Reborn. Colonnello. Sorry again, for this."

"_Give it up, Dame-Tsuna. You followed us to the end of our world, fought to keep us alive, and you're still fighting to make sure we live... its not a big deal to follow you out into the cold every now and again."_

And suddenly Tsuna stopped. "Ah, here we are. Home sweet home."

_Home sweet home indeed. _It was the Sawada house, looking the same as ever before. Reborn looked up at his charge, wondering why they'd been brought there. Tsuna answered his question by opening the gates and gesturing them in. After they were all through, he closed it and turned to the door, pulling a key out of his pocket and opening the door. "We're home!"

Reborn didn't expect anyone to be awake at such an hour, but there was more life in the house than he expected. Gokudera stood there in the front room, talking to someone in a low voice on the phone. Upon hearing Tsuna's call, he jerked upright and turned to look at them, then hurriedly muttered something into the phone before slamming it back into the cradle. "Tenth! Welcome home!"

"Is everything ready?" Tsuna asked. Now that the babies were looking at him, they could see how _nervous _he appeared to be.

Gokudera shook his head. "Not quite yet. Maman's outside putting the final items in place, and everyone else is helping. Tsuyoshi-san should be over soon, and my sister's gone to make sure the-" Suddenly remembering the babies were there, he leaned in and whispered, "-the _you-know-what's _are on their way as promised."

_You know whats? _Exchanging a look with Colonnello, Reborn reached up to tug on Tsuna's hand. _"What are you plotting, Dame-Tsuna. Tell me at once, or I'll bite your ears until they bleed." _It was a trick that he'd perfected after learning to walk; scampering up Tsuna's back like a monkey and using his baby teeth to gnaw at his poor student's ear until he talked. It was very effective, but despite the pain Tsuna never flung him off his back or smacked him, merely yelped and carefully pried him off. Reborn always let go before anything could tear, but the threat was still valid.

Getting no reply, Reborn growled and seized hold of Tsuna's pants, pulling his weight up and starting the climb. Tsuna was being smarter then usual, because he screeched when he realized what Reborn was doing. "No, Reborn, don't!" His hands reached back, but the tiny hitman had been smart too – he'd taken the middle of Tsuna's back, the one spot he couldn't quite reach.

Before Tsuna could dislodge him, tiny teeth clamped down on his ear, and he was soon hopping around, tears in his eyes. "OW! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! R-Reborn, knock it – ow! - off! What'd I do _this _time?! Yow!"

In answer Reborn just tightened his jaw, growling when Tsuna's hands gently tried to pry him away. "Please let go, Reborn! If you keep hanging on, we're both going to fall, and I'd rather not have a heart-attack just yet."

Gokudera was clearly floundering; while Tsuna had warned them all just how temperamental the kids could be, none of them had really seen it in action before. He was torn between helping his boss dislodge his former tutor from his ear, or helping so Reborn wouldn't fall. Thankfully before anything else could happen, the front door opened again, causing everyone to freeze where they stood.

"Ara? Tsu-kun, its nice to see you playing with Reborn-kun, but you should be helping with the birthday party!"

_Birthday party? _Reborn felt the hands tighten, and willingly let go of his former student's ear to stare up at his face, which was rapidly reddening. _"Tsuna, what are you planning?"_

"Um, everyone..." Tsuna addressed the small crowd gathered around him, as well as Reborn. "It's been a year since you've been freed from your curse, and I thought... well, I thought since none of you could tell me your birthdays, I'd just give you guys group birthdays until you were old enough to start talking. So, happy birthday."

A few little jaws dropped, while others looked at each other. Reborn kept staring at his ex-student, and eventually a smirk curved his face. Tsuna looked at him to gauge his reaction, and Reborn didn't hold back.

"Dame-Tsuna." Reaching out with a chubby hand, he ruffled the silky brown hair, watching in amusement as Tsuna's face pinked. Then he grabbed a handful and pulled. _"If you ever pull a stunt like this again, I'm going to toss you off a cliff. Do we have an understanding?"_

"HIIIEE, what did I do _this _time, Reborn? Please stop thaaaa-!" he yelped as Reborn tugged harder, and then reached out with his second hand and mercilessly twisted his already-swollen ear. "YOW!"

"_For daring to lump me together with these other idiots, I'm going to punish you until you cry."_

"_Hey, that's **my **line, kora!"_

"_Get your own student, you army wannabe, this one's mine."_

"_Why you-!"_

As Tsuna once again detached him and put him down to tangle with Colonnello, Reborn felt himself smirk. Yes, his stupid, dame student was turning out just fine.


	6. Chapter 6

**Six: **Hunter and Hunted

**[ 1 yr, 3 m after the breaking of the curse ]**

The first hit happened in March, three months after the start of a new year.

Tsuna had been fortunate; his Vongola intuition had been going about eight kinds of crazy when he'd woken up that morning. Knowing something would probably end up happening, he called up Takeshi and Hayato and asked them to discreetly take the babies to his mother's until further notice, and alert the other Guardians and the girls as well. They had shown up before it had even gotten light, and while none of the Arcobaleno had been too happy at the early-morning wake up call, their grumbling had subsided once they saw the tell-tale gold lining Tsuna's iris.

Reborn had tugged on his hand, bopped him on the nose and tugged his hair before leaving – a clear warning not to do anything stupid, or he'd regret it. Tsuna didn't say anything, just smiled because he knew in the deepest part of himself he couldn't make any promises where his intuition was concerned. Once the babies were gone, Tsuna had heaved a sigh of relief. Some of the anxiety boiling in the pit of his stomach had left, meaning his actions had been the correct ones. Whoever was gunning for him wasn't after the Arcobaleno – just Vongola Decimo.

_That's fine then, _Tsuna thought as he armed himself to the teeth that morning before school, strapping fighting knives to his hips and guns to his legs, as well as a few smoke bombs to his shoulders. _If its just me, I can handle whatever comes at me. It's not like its the first assassin I've ever dealt with. _Indeed, back when Reborn had still been able to talk, he'd scolded Tsuna on not actin fast enough or doing something wrong when an assassin popped up. After a while, the lessons had sunk in and stuck. Now there was no way for him to forget them.

Still, even as prepared as he was, he was only human. He made mistakes. Like falling for the ruse of a loud bang in the alley and turning at just the right angle for a sniper to get a bullet through his shoulder, and then through his leg. He hit the ground hard, and tossed a smoke bomb, which gave him enough time to get his gun and let his intuition, fed by the adrenaline, lead his shot.

Blood loss took its toll before long, and even as he struggled to get up, to get himself healed and to the hospital, the world began to get fuzzy around the ends, and he found it harder and harder to get up. _Reborn's going to be disappointed, _he thought as he gritted his teeth and tried to exert pressure on both of his wounds while still standing. _I didn't keep my promise to come back._

Doubtlessly that would have been the end of him, if someone hadn't walked through the smoke bomb and quite literally scooped him up. A voice sounded near his ear, telling him to _hold on, _and then they were running, and after what felt like after only a few seconds they were pushing through the hospital doors, and someone was yelling for the doctor.

Tsuna thought he saw Detective Badd's face as the world faded out, worried and almost _angry, _but he dismissed the thought. Why would the detective who called him a mafia dog and regularly stalked him want to help his own target?

* * *

Grimm Badd was not in a good mood. And it wasn't just because he'd nearly had a kid bleed out in his arms. Nevermind that the kid in question was the prime suspect in several murder investigations concerning the Vongola Family. At the moment he'd chanced upon the kid, he hadn't seen a mafia boss, or whatever he was suspected of being. He saw a _kid, _and that more than anything was what disturbed him, what continued to haunt him as he made his way out of the hospital, good deed done for the day, and back to the precinct.

"Badd?" The chief's voice drew his attention up, and he was surprised to find his boss's face stricken with shock. "What happened?"

So Badd told him. By the time he was done, the chief was frowning. "Are you telling me someone _targeted _the supposed Vongola Decimo, who is the head of a famiglia so large and influential to kill him would literally bring the mafia to its knees?"

"That's about right, yeah."

"And he fought back?"

"Yeah. The sniper was dead."

The frown didn't go away. If anything, it got deeper. "I don't get it. The kid is Vongola Decimo supposedly – where were his guards? No mafia boss willingly goes out by himself without some kind of guard on him. Or close to him. But this kid kills the sniper, gets shot, and nothing happens. In fact, he was about to bleed out all over the sidewalk." He shook his head. "That doesn't sound like Vongola."

"There are the rumors," Badd admitted. As much as he hated it, the rumors were the only thing that made what had just happened make sense. The rumors that said Vongola Decimo wasn't a mafia man, he wasn't doing drugs or selling whores, he was trying to set the Vongola back on its original path – which was supposedly a vigilant group.

It sounded ridiculous to someone like Badd, who had seen every corner the mafia had to offer and then some. Why would some no-name kid suddenly declare he'd put Vongola back on the path it had been originally? Especially when its empire was built in the darkness of the Underworld?

But the chief was nodding, looking thoughtful. "There are. Maybe they've more weight to them than we originally thought."

"You can't be serious."

"Think about it Badd. The kid could have _died. _He's the up-and-coming heir of the Vongola. He's _precious _to them, more than silver or gold or any wealth in the world. There no other heir besides him. So why wouldn't he carry some kind of guard with him? Why didn't he call for help, or have someone nearby in case this happened? For someone like Vongola, a bodyguard doesn't cost much."

"Supposedly, he's already got bodyguards."

"Ah yes, the Guardians. So why not have one of them tag along? Something's off about this Badd, it really is. If this kid is our murderer, our Vongola Decimo, why isn't he acting like a mafia boss? He's playing housewife instead – that's not something a boss does. He hands his kids over to the maids. But the kid's got _kids, _and he's working with them. Raising them by himself, in fact."

"Maybe he's just weird like that," Badd muttered. Now that he was hearing it, the kid did seem a bit... off for a boss. But he wasn't going to give this bone up. The kid was the only suspect they had. And no matter how innocent he acted, there was no way a leader of Vongola was anything less than _mafia, _pure and simple.

"You should let the kid's mother know." The chief said, turning around back towards his office. "But go home and change first. You've got blood all over you, and its not an attractive look."

* * *

Reborn didn't know how he knew, but he knew something was wrong. That morning when Tsuna had woken them up and taken them to Maman's house, he had known something was up. But Tsuna seemed to have a grip on things, so Reborn had let him go. Now he was starting to regret it, because his gut was screaming at him that things had gone south, despite the fact that he couldn't hear or see anything.

Colonnello was similarly anxious, looking at the door or windows every few seconds, as if he expected someone to bust in. When someone rang the doorbell, he nearly jumped a foot in the air. _"Nervous, are we?" _Reborn asked him.

"_Shut up, kora. Don't act like you don't feel it too." _Boy did he. Colonnello and he were the more receptive ones to Tsuna's presence and status, even when they weren't there. Fon came close, but he didn't feel the connection they did. The others were in similar states, none of them clicking the way the two did.

They watched as Nana went to the door, and scuttled after her, hiding behind an umbrella stand as she opened the door. The detective stood on the other side, looking as dark and foreboding as he usually did. _"What's **he **want?" _Reborn growled.

Then they caught Nana's words, and the questions were answered.

"Tsu-kun's in the _hospital_?!"

Reborn closed his eyes and clamped down on the urge to murder his student. He failed. _"I'm going to kick his ass from here to the Himalayas the next time I see him."_

"_Not if I get to him first, kora! That's the second time he's been in the hospital! First it was with Skull, because he had to go and be the hero!"_

"_Wonder what he did this time." _The two walked off, grabbing whatever they wanted to bring for the long journey to the hospital. Fon came over mid-packing.

"_What's going on?"_

"_Tsunayoshi's in the hospital. **Again.**" _Reborn snarled, shoving a blanket into Colonnello's arms. They weren't napping in the cold again. _"Mamma's going to take us to see him, so go pack. Pack **light.**"_

Fon did as he was told, and sure enough, Nana closed the door after thanking the detective and came over to them, tears in her eyes. "Everyone, your big brother's gotten into some trouble, so let's go see him, yes?"

"_Fine by me. I'm going to give him a nice kick to the kidneys to wake him up." _Reborn promised as he, Colonnello and Fon gathered around her, items in tow. _"Are the others coming?"_

"_Verde says he doesn't care, Viper doesn't want to go and Skull is asleep. So no." _Fon's smile was faint. _"It's just us for now."_

"_Good," _Colonnello said, _"That means I can twist the kid's ears without being stopped."_

"_I don't think Nana's going to let that happen," _Fon said.

"_Tough. I'll find a way around it. We'll give our 'precious big brother' the best wake up of his life. And remind him in the process why doing stupid things is a bad idea."_

"Fuuta, could you look out for everyone while we're gone?"

"Sure!"

"C'mon you three, let's go see your big brother."

The walk to the hospital was fairly short, and before long they were inside, waiting while Nana asked the nurse where Tsuna's room was. Reborn and the others didn't bother waiting, letting their naturally honed Tsuna-senses lead them to the boy's bedside. Upon arriving though, they all stopped to consider their promised vengeance.

Tsuna's shoulder and leg were both wrapped in heavy cloth, and there were needles running under his veins connecting to a blood drip. Against the sheets he looked painfully pale and small, and for one horrifying moment Reborn thought he might actually be dead.

"_He's lost a lot of blood, hasn't he?" _Fon asked quietly, none of them noticing Nana entering the room.

"_Fuck, the kid's so freaking small. What the heck hit him?" _Colonnello asked.

Reborn was examining the wounds with a critical eye, and told them. _"Bullets. Looks like someone got in a couple of shots. Probably a sniper."_

"_You think that's why the kid took us away this morning? That means he **knew **this was going to happen! Why the hell didn't he ask one of his Guardians to protect him?"_

Reborn sighed. _"Because he's a stupid boy like that. My stupid, Dame student. It seems we've a few more lessons before we cure you."_

A nurse came in not long after that to refill the drip, and they all settled down to wake for Tsuna to wake up.

* * *

When Tsuna came to, it was to the realization that he was surrounded by a solid wall of killing aura – all aimed directly at _him._

"Oh fuck," he croaked, literally seconds before someone – probably Hibari – realized he was awake and quit literally jerked him up by the front of his hospital shirt. He was faced by cold eyes, even from the mellow ones like Lambo and Chrome.

"Tsuna," Gokudera said, for once dropping all pretenses of wild loyalty, voice serious, "what did you do."

It wasn't a question, Tsuna thought, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on edge. He was going to die here today, killed by his Guardians and his charges and _oh god what was Reborn doing with that needle?_

He whimpered, shrinking back. Reborn's grip on the needle over his arm did not waver, nor did Takeshi's grip on his arm, which was like steel. "I didn't want you guys to get hurt."

If anything, the killing intent only grew. "We're your _Guardians._"

"And my friends!" Tsuna shrieked, sensing impending death coming from the direction of Hibari, "I'm not about to let you toss your lives away for mine! Especially not after we've come so far!"

There was a long, lengthy pause, during which nobody moved or made a sound. Tsuna tried not to squeal like a frightened rabbit when Gokudera reached out and gently brushed hair out of his eyes. His eyes were oddly pitying. "Tsuna," he murmured, "its one thing to want us to be safe. Its another thing entirely to not tell us when you're going to be in danger."

He seized his boss's ear and twisted sharply, causing Tsuna to yelp louder than he ever thought possible. When he stared up at Gokudera, shocked, the other let go and turned away. "Don't do it again," the silver male warned, and then calmly left the room. The others followed him, nobody saying anything, or even touching Tsuna after that. Once the door was shut, Tsuna turned his attention to the Arcobaleno, who were still sitting where they'd been at the beginning of all this.

"Guys...?" Tsuna whispered, feeling something terrible well up inside of him. Guilt, he realized, and a lot of it.

The three didn't say anything. Merely turned as one to face the wall. They steadily ignored Tsuna's pleas and cries as they too left the room.

Tsuna found himself very much alone in the coming days.

* * *

Author's Notes

Here you guys go. Sorry for the long wait. I got caught up on working on my other stories, and I kind of forgot about you. So here, have a drabble.

Once again, Tsuna is back in the hospital. He's probably going to make this a habit. Reborn's not gonna be too happy. And no, the police know a lot, but they don't know _everything. _They don't know about the Varia for one, or the magical properties of the rings and the like. They just assume Tsuna is the last one, which makes him pretty damn precious indeed.

**Edit: **Added in Guardians' and Arcobaleno's reactions upon Tsuna waking up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Seven: **Imperfect

**[1 yr, 7 m post-curse]**

Sawada Tsunayoshi was an imperfect being. The laws of science and the universe demanded it be so, on top of human nature being a factor, but that didn't make Verde fell any better about their so-called "protector". Honestly, he would rather be left by himself, or taken in by someone else, than have Tsunayoshi take care of him.

It was nothing personal against the boy – well okay, it was _kind _of personal. The idea that a fourteen-going-on-fifteen boy was capable of taking care of six tiny lives when he couldn't even get his own straightened out was just obnoxious. The fact that the brat continued to land himself in the hospital time and again only served to drive this fact in a little more each day.

Viper understood, he knew, because of her psychic abilities, but also because she had lived just as long as they had, and had seen the darker sides of humanity. She _knew _what to expect in this kind of situation, even if she didn't like it. Skull wailed and complained that he didn't like it either, although he had yet to actually give reasons.

Verde suspected that behind that clownish attitude though, Skull's reasons were much like Verde's own – the boy was simply taking on too much, trying to push those who wanted to help away, trying to _prove _himself, and it was going to end up getting one or more of them killed.

Reborn and Colonnello, the fools that they were, just insisted it meant Tsuna needed more training. It made Verde want to scream and tear his hair out. Sawada Tsunayoshi did not need more training. He needed a muzzle and his Guardians hounding his steps every moment of every day, because the boy was a walking disaster waiting to happen.

Like now. He was trying to clean out the basement (which apparently they had) so they could get a playroom install down there for them. While at first it seemed a nice, parental idea, only Verde saw it as the trap it really was. People coming in and out of the house (Vongola, but that hardly mattered), large feet trampling by them, Sawada Tsunayoshi carrying crates as tall as his body from one spot to the next.

Verde was terrified, to put it mildly, and stuck himself in a little niche in the walls, almost burrowing in an effort to get away. He wasn't going to get crushed under all that because Sawada was too stupid to mind the details like any good parent would. And for that matter, where were the baby gates and the wall socket protectors? What if Skull had an urge to test if he was still "immortal", or Colonnello decided to go play with Falco in the front yard while the brat wasn't looking?

There were too many things that could go wrong. Verde felt like he was living in one constricting death trap constantly, and it was irritating him. He wanted to bring Keimen over, but that irritating baby boss refused, telling him and the others it was too dangerous, since Keimen didn't know him and might perceive his attempts to protect as an attack.

Personally, Verde felt like having Keimen come watch over the house would be much better than having Sawada do it, since Keimen knew a threat when he saw it. The only reasons the animals were reacting so hostile (with the exception of Colonnello, Fon and Reborn's animals, who cuddled up to Sawada like the fools they were) was because they knew a threat when they saw one.

_Sawada was a **threat. **_At the end of the day, that one fact remained a constant. Naturally, the solution would have been to have the threat removed, or eliminated, should it prove too stubborn to stay away. Except Verde might have been a mad genius, but he wasn't a fool. He saw the way Colonnello and Reborn and Fon looked at the young man, the way the children relied on him, the way the world just seemed to settle down in the midst of chaos if Tsunayoshi offered a smile.

The laws of science, the universe, and human nature demanded that Tsunayoshi Sawada be an imperfect being. Those same laws also demanded that Tsunayoshi be the only one capable of calming whatever storm roused itself up because of his imperfections. It left Verde feeling agitated – and more than a little unsettled.

Just how far would Tsunayoshi's strange ability to attract attention go – and would his equally powerful ability to change his enemies to friends be able to keep up?

* * *

Verde was frightened, Viper knew. Frightened and worried about the child that was no longer a child, the boy that would someday lead the most fearsome mafia _famiglia _in existence. That same child would one day wash clean the Vongola's hands, so tainted by blood. Because of that knowledge, on some level she could understand the scientist's fear of the boy.

But overshadowing that fear was the solid knowledge that Reborn did not make mistakes of this size. If Tsunayoshi had genuinely been a danger to them, he would have told them and found a way for them to get to the boy's Guardians, or even his mother. The boy was clumsy, and _that _was fairly dangerous when you were shorter than him and he was carrying a rather heavy-looking crate, but he also had the Vongola Intuition, which would have been working overtime in this situation.

The Vongola were famous for that intuition. It was the one thing no other bloodline could replicate, although some had come close. With children or people under their protection, a Vongola's senses heightened until they were almost all-encompassing. They toed the line between human and predator – there was no doubt in Viper's mind that if something were to happen to one of them, Tsunayoshi _would _and _could _tear the threat apart, and would keep them safe. Skull's encounter with that older boy named Mochida at the school had been one such instance, and a fine example of how _not _to treat the Vongola.

He would give his own life to see them grow up happy and secure, not only because his blood would demand it, but also because he himself was beginning to recognize the changes going on inside himself, and he was working harder each day to settle more and more into the roles handed to him. Viper knew such growth was a good thing – and very promising. The fact that this deep in, Tsuna had yet to lose himself to the blood and darkness was also very good. It meant Reborn's faith in his student had not been misplaced.

Viper was not the sentimental type. She didn't make bonds as casually as those around her did. She couldn't take students in like Reborn did, terrify them to bits, humiliate them until they nearly cried, and somehow come out the end as their friend. It simply didn't work. She couldn't lock herself up in one spot like Verde did, content to live out her days as a hermit. She didn't work for the amusement of others, as Skull did, or train endlessly to hone something that would never get any better, as Colonnello or Fon did.

What she did know was illusions, and how to make something from nothing. And that's exactly what Reborn had done with Tsuna, and Tsuna was still doing. Reborn had crafted something from nothing, nad now Tsuna carried the illusion of being his usual dame self – so much so that even someone like Verde had fallen for it.

It was positively _devious._

She had watched as Sawada gave orders, took charge of the men at his disposal; boys that were swiftly growing, branching out into the world they had been charged with taking care of. The world they had said they would either make or break. The one Sawada held in the palm of his hand, even if he wasn't entirely aware of it yet.

It made her curious about what kind of monster Sawada would become; he would_ need_ to become one, in order to survive their world. She supposed in the end the choice was up to him – just as the choice on how to carry his inheritance was his alone.

"_Viper," _a voice nearby called her. Turning, she realized Skull was watching her and Verde. _"What are you thinking?"_

Under normal circumstances, Viper would have ignored the youngest. There was no reason to answer him, after all. He was a lacky of Reborn's, and Viper didn't exactly like Reborn. But then again, she didn't really like anybody.

So she answered. _"I'm thinking that Sawada is growing up rather fast these days. Tell me, do you think he'll have claws?"_

"_Claws?"_ Skull asked, confused. _"You mean like, what cats have?"_

Viper chuckled. _"No. Like what the things that lurk in the darkness have. Monsters."_

"_Oh." _He paused to think. _"Dunno. Does he seem like a monster to you?" _

This was the question that would decide which path Skull would follow. He could either listen to Viper and be curious, or he could listen to Verde and be fearful. It was a choice that once again, was nobody's to make but him.

So Viper said_, "Figure it out yourself."_

* * *

Skull wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box. He got that – he understood that the others saw him as a clown, an entertainer for the masses. And that was fine, because that's what he was at the end of the day. He entertained others through his own pain, misery or tricks.

What he _didn't _get was why everyone suddenly seemed so tense about that kid that took care of them. Sawada – that was his name. Sawada Tsuna. Reborn's second, and arguably greatest student to date. He had fought wars that weren't his, made friends from enemies, and overall seemed to get along with everyone. If Skull had met him by himself, he suspected he'd probably assume the kid was wimpy, but otherwise not so bad. Maybe he would have even secretly liked the kid.

But this wasn't that. Skull had met him through the Carcassa invasion, been defeated by those hands that swung like they were in constant prayer, those same hands that now took such gentle care of them all. It made Skull wonder, was this kid really as scary as Verde seemed to think? Because yeah, sure, the kid could be downright spooky and mean when something of his was threatened – like his friends. But that could be said of Reborn and Colonnello and basically everyone else. It was the mafia, for crying out loud.

So at the end of the day, it came down to the kid himself, not what everyone else thought. Personally, Skull figured he was kind of... well, weird. And that was coming from a male stuntman that dressed up in makeup and defied Death on a regular basis (or rather, used to) for the amusement of others. Again, the whole "clown" thing applied. He didn't think the kid was weird for running around in his boxers (that was Reborn's fault, after all) or for freaking out like he did (again, Reborn's fault) or even for putting up with everyone else's problems. That was the job of being a boss.

What was _weird _was how calm he seemed to be about all of this. How he seemed to be doing exactly what Skull was doing – putting on a show for the masses. Because Skull had witnessed Tsuna before and after, and at some point during Reborn's hellish training, the fear in his eyes had died and the whining, screeching mess of a kid had become an act. "Dame-Tsuna" was an act. A play he put on to keep everyone from seeing the real him.

The real him had steel in his eyes and his fists clenched. The real him was a _boss, _and not just as a title. Tsuna was taking care of his own, ready to leap in and take a hit if it meant keeping someone alive. Hell, he _was _taking care of his own, by taking care of them. The kid wasn't solid yet – there was no such thing as a perfect pillar of strength, after all – but he was damn close.

Maybe that's why Verde was scared. Because behind that act there lurked a monster – the very same monster Viper was wondering about. Except Viper had asked him about that, and Skull knew Viper could see through the illusions put up like they were wet tissue paper. The only logical reason she would have asked that question when the kid was _already _pretty spooky was if she thought he was going to get _worse. _Or better, depending on a person's point of view.

Reborn didn't seem worried. That meant the kid wasn't going to go off the deep end anytime soon. Colonnello was still grinning and laughing and acting like a fool. That meant the kid wasn't about to turn against his own, and was still going to protect them. Fon was calm and still trying to teach Tsuna how to do those strange movements like he did. That meant he could still get stronger, be better, faster. They were still capable of handing him weapons.

So in the end, it came down to opinion.

Was Sawada Tsunayoshi a monster? Yes. Was he a _tamed _monster? Yes. Was he going to get stronger, better, faster than the rest of them? Probably. In fact, Skull was thinking about taking bets about how long it would take the kid to outrank them all, until he was in a category of his own like that freak Checkerface was.

Except unlike Checkerface, Tsuna would probably end up using those powers of his to keep his family and loved ones safe. He wouldn't manipulate unless something costly was on the line. Maybe that's why Colonnello, Reborn and Fon still followed him. Maybe that's why they _trusted _him like they did. Because they saw that potential, saw all that Tsuna could become, and knew that their future boss would rather die than let any of them get hurt.

Thinking like that, Skull had to admit it sounded pretty nice. He'd have thought it romanticized, if not for the thought that he had seen the kid in action, witnessed that resolve to protect his own and knew it was very much real.

Viper had told him to make his own decision. And Skull had. In his humble opinion, Verde was losing ground, both mentally and alliance-wise. If he chose to do something once he had his adult body back, chances were by that time Tsuna would have a solid wall of people ready and willing to give their all to protect him at his beck and call. Not that he'd ever use them like that, but still.

The thought had him smiling. Who knew – in ten or so years, _he _might be one of those people. For now though, he was content with trusting the kid to take care of them, and showing him a few tricks to make his every day life easier.

* * *

Author's Notes

I know I said I wouldn't update again, but I've got the flu, a desire to write and five days left until NaNo. I haven't updated this in a while, so here, have a chapter.

Here we see the three different points of view from three different people – Verde, Viper and Skull – that up until now haven't really been connected to Tsuna's hip the way Reborn, Colonnello and Fon have.


End file.
